The present invention relates to a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that is constructed from and is intended to accompany the installation of resilient thermoplastic flooring material such as the Protect-All(copyright) polyvinyl chloride (PVC) specialty flooring manufactured by Oscoda Plastics(trademark), Inc.
The traditional baseboard product is applied to an intersection of a floor and a wall in such a manner as to leave a seam between the floor and the baseboard. This seam is usually imperfectly sealed, if it is sealed at all. Therefore, one or more gaps usually exist at the intersection of the floor and the baseboard. Water, waste, and other undesirable matter can accumulate in these areas, creating an unsanitary, difficult-to-clean condition as well as degradation of the structural integrity of the floor and the baseboard. In addition, the 90-degree angle typically formed by a traditional baseboard and a floor exacerbates the difficulty of maintaining a clean floor-to-wall transition. These problems present particularly unsatisfactory conditions in environments such as commercial food preparation facilities, i.e., kitchens in restaurants, catering firms, hospitals, and other institutions.
The present invention solves the problems presented by the traditional baseboard by providing a baseboard that creates a seamless, sanitary, easy-to-clean transition from the floor to the baseboard. The invention achieves this result by fabricating a baseboard from thermoplastic material of the same thickness as the thermoplastic material comprising the floor. A baseboard segment of the thermoplastic material is cut from a sheet of the material and one side of the baseboard segment is scored, allowing the baseboard segment to bend to fit the intersection of a subfloor and a wall. The scoring defines a wall-engaging portion and a subfloor-engaging portion of the baseboard as well as an angled transition zone of the baseboard between the wall-engaging portion and the subfloor-engaging portion. The longitudinal edge of the baseboard segment proximal to the perimeter edge of the floor is welded by heat or other means to the perimeter edge of the floor, creating a seamless, gap-free transition from the floor to the baseboard.
The ability of the invention to facilitate the maintenance of a clean floor and baseboard is further aided by the transition zone that is designed into the baseboard as a result of the scoring. The transition zone also enables the baseboard to allow for imperfections in wall construction by adjusting slightly by height and angle. In doing so it can easily conform to wall and subfloor imperfections that would normally make the installation of a traditional baseboard difficult or impossible.
In addition to the baseboard itself, the invention comprises a method for fabricating and installing the claimed baseboard as well as methods for adapting the claimed baseboard to corners formed by intersecting walls. The ease of the fabrication method allows the baseboard to be quickly fabricated at the jobsite, making fabrication both economical and convenient.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that prevents the build-up of water, waste, and other undesirable matter at the transition between a subfloor and a wall.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that provides a seamless transition from floor to wall that will protect the structural integrity of the wall, the baseboard, and the floor.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that can be fabricated on site and installed to accompany resilient thermoplastic flooring.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard constructed from custom-sized baseboard segments of thermoplastic flooring material.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that alters the inherent shape memory of the thermoplastic floor material such that it can be formed to the perimeter of a room.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard designed with an angled transition zone that enables the baseboard to adapt to imperfections in subfloor and wall construction.
It is another object of the invention to provide a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard that may be adapted to corners formed by intersecting walls.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of fabricating and installing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard.
It is another object of the invention to provide methods of adapting the claimed baseboard to corners formed by intersecting walls.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard for providing a sanitary, easy-to-clean transition from a resilient thermoplastic floor residing on a subfloor to a spaced-apart wall. The baseboard is fabricated from resilient thermoplastic flooring material having the same thickness as the floor. A plurality of longitudinally-extending parallel spaced-apart grooves are formed in one side of the baseboard for permitting the baseboard to be folded along its length to define a transition zone between a subfloor-engaging portion and a wall-engaging portion of the baseboard. The subfloor-engaging portion includes a distal side edge adapted for being abutted against and joined to a proximal edge of the floor to form a smooth, easy-to-clean joinder line. The wall-engaging portion is adapted to engage the wall at substantially right angles to the subfloor-engaging portion and at an angle relative to the transition zone of greater than 90 degrees.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the grooves have a depth approximately equal to one-half the thickness of the baseboard.
An embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided for constructing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard from a resilient thermoplastic floor material with the same thickness as a corresponding resilient thermoplastic floor. The method includes the steps of cutting a longitudinal baseboard segment of predetermined width from a sheet of the thermoplastic flooring material, scoring one side of the baseboard segment to define first and second longitudinally-extending parallel spaced-apart grooves for permitting the baseboard segment to be folded along its length to define a transition zone between a subfloor-engaging portion and a wall-engaging portion, and folding the baseboard segment along the grooves. The method further includes the subsequent step of positioning the baseboard segment such that the subfloor-engaging portion engages the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion engages the wall, a longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and proximal edge of the floor define a narrow seam, and the baseboard segment blocks the intersection of the subfloor and the wall from intrusion by waste and other undesirable matter. The method further includes the subsequent steps of adhering the subfloor-engaging portion to the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion to the wall, and closing the narrow seam defined by the longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and the proximal edge of the floor to provide a smooth, seamless transition from the wall to the floor.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein prior to the step of positioning the baseboard segment, the method further includes the steps of applying the floor to the entire subfloor and removing a portion of the floor residing along the perimeter of the subfloor to accommodate the positioning of the baseboard segment.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein prior to the step of positioning the baseboard segment, the method further includes the step of applying the floor to the subfloor such that a perimeter portion of the subfloor remains exposed to accommodate the positioning of the baseboard segment.
An embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided for constructing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard from a resilient thermoplastic flooring material with the same thickness as a resilient thermoplastic floor to be applied to a corresponding subfloor. The method includes the steps of cutting a longitudinal baseboard segment of predetermined width from a sheet of the thermoplastic flooring material, scoring one side of the baseboard segment to define first and second longitudinally-extending parallel spaced-apart grooves for permitting the baseboard to be folded along its length to thereby define a transition zone between a subfloor-engaging portion and a wall-engaging portion, and folding the baseboard segment along the grooves. The method further includes the subsequent step of positioning the baseboard segment such that the subfloor-engaging portion engages the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion engages the wall and such that the baseboard segment blocks the intersection of the subfloor and the wall from intrusion by waste and other undesirable matter. The method further includes the subsequent steps of adhering the subfloor-engaging portion to the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion to the wall, applying the floor to the subfloor such that a longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and a proximal edge of the floor define a narrow seam, and closing the narrow seam defined by the longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and the proximal edge of the floor to provide a smooth, seamless transition from the wall to the floor.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein prior to the step of positioning the baseboard segment, the method further includes the step of beveling a longitudinal edge of the wall-engaging portion of the baseboard segment.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein the step of closing the narrow seam defined by the longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and the proximal edge of the floor includes welding the longitudinal edge of the subfloor-engaging portion and the proximal edge of the floor to form a seamless transition from the baseboard segment to the floor.
An embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided for constructing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard from a resilient thermoplastic flooring material and adapting the baseboard to an inside corner. The method includes the steps of cutting a longitudinal baseboard segment of predetermined width from a sheet of the thermoplastic flooring material, scoring one side of the baseboard segment to define first and second longitudinally-extending parallel spaced-apart grooves for permitting the baseboard segment to be folded along its length, removing a section of the baseboard segment to define complimentary edges that may be joined to form an inside corner baseboard segment for application to an inside corner, joining the complimentary edges of the baseboard segment defined by the step of removing to form the inside corner baseboard segment for application to the inside corner. The method further includes the subsequent step of forming the inside corner baseboard segment to the inside corner such that the inside corner baseboard segment is folded along the grooves to define a subfloor-engaging portion, a wall-engaging portion, and a transition zone between the subfloor-engaging portion and the wall-engaging portion, and such that the subfloor-engaging portion of the inside corner baseboard segment engages the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion of the inside corner baseboard segment engages converging walls, and such that the inside corner baseboard segment blocks the intersection of the subfloor and the converging walls from intrusion by waste and other undesirable matter. The method further includes the subsequent step of adhering the subfloor-engaging portion of the inside corner baseboard segment to the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion of the inside corner baseboard segment to the converging walls.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein prior to the step of forming the inside corner baseboard segment, the method further includes the step of beveling a longitudinal edge of the wall-engaging portion of the inside corner baseboard segment.
An embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided for constructing a seamless floor-to-wall baseboard from a resilient thermoplastic flooring material and adapting the baseboard to an outside corner. The method includes the steps of cutting a longitudinal baseboard segment of predetermined width from a sheet of the thermoplastic flooring material, scoring one side of the baseboard segment to define first and second longitudinally-extending parallel spaced-apart grooves for permitting the baseboard segment to be folded along its length, removing a section of the baseboard segment to create two smaller baseboard segments with complimentary edges that may be joined to form an outside corner baseboard segment for application to an outside corner, and joining the complimentary edges of the smaller baseboard segments defined by the step of removing to form the outside corner baseboard segment for application to the outside corner. The method further includes the subsequent step of forming the outside corner baseboard segment to the outside corner such that the outside corner baseboard segment is folded along the grooves to define a subfloor-engaging portion, a wall-engaging portion, and a transition zone between the subfloor-engaging portion and the wall-engaging portion, and such that the subfloor-engaging portion of the outside corner baseboard segment engages the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion of the outside corner baseboard segment engages converging walls, and such that the outside corner baseboard segment blocks the intersection of the subfloor and the converging walls from intrusion by waste and other undesirable matter. The method further includes the subsequent step of adhering the subfloor-engaging portion of the outside corner baseboard segment to the subfloor and the wall-engaging portion of the outside corner baseboard segment to the converging walls.
Another embodiment of a method according to the invention is provided, wherein prior to the step of forming the outside corner baseboard segment, the method further includes the step of beveling a longitudinal edge of the wall-engaging portion of the outside corner baseboard segment.